


Of space cats and starry eyes

by Elenielwen



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: First Contact, Hurt/Comfort, Liberty taken with dialogue, Might contain mature themes, My take on my Sara meeting Jaal, Romance, Slow Burn, Spoilers for Jaal's romance arc, au-ish, spoilers for the game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:11:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenielwen/pseuds/Elenielwen
Summary: Sara Ryder meets Jaal Ama Darav. Then it all goes downhill from there. Aka follow my Ryder as she fumbles through the galaxy."You need to think before acting, fool girl, or your actions will have you killed long before you reach the Archon!"





	

**Author's Note:**

> So... I did a thing.  
> Spoilers for the game, obviously, and Jaal's romance arc. Mind you, I will take liberties with the dialogue and events, and it will probably go a bit AU here and there, but I will fight to keep my characters feeling canon :)
> 
> Let's see where my muse takes me. Mind you, updates will be sporadic at best since I have a toddler, but I'll do my best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2017-03-28: Have edited the story a bit. For all of you who read it before; there might be some extra new goodness. Just so you know <3

Sara Ryder had never been a very brave, diplomatic or thoughtful person, so when she woke up in this strange new galaxy she had been nothing but confused, dizzy, nauseous. Where was she? Her head hurt, everything was all wrong, and her limbs would not fully obey. When she had been met with some unfamiliar scientists all she had been able to say was "Where is Scott?". To her head's displeasure, they had simply laughed at her and made jokes about planets and whatnot, words that completely flew by her conscious mind.

_Where are you?_

  
When the Hyperion had driven into what she later learned was called 'the Scourge', she had flailed about like a newborn foal, hyper alert and scared beyond her wits.

  
Sara had never been the brave one.

  
When an asari named Dr Lexi told her that her twin, her one anchor and strength in her world, had to be put into a medically induced coma Sara had felt  _utterly_   _terrified_. Terrified because she realised that she would have to face this new world, this alien world with nothing but her own (lacking) wits and father, but also because she needed him. His humour. His strength.

At least she had her father, distant as he was.

  
_She failed him too._

  
When SAM woke her up on that white, sterile bed and told her that her father had not made it.... Sara had been completely stunned, blank, shell shocked.

  
"What?" had been all anyone had been able to get out of her as she had stared blankly ahead, mind completely devoid of any emotion.

  
Even SAM's and people's words of encouragement and comfort had not changed the way the void seethed, writhed in her mind. It all happened too fast for her to process after that. She was named pathfinder, was all of a sudden in charge, all of a sudden in the spotlight, had to think, had to make decisions, had to fetch this, talk to that...

  
_This has to be a mistake,_ _a bloody nightmare._

  
When they explored and settled the planet Eos, (albeit with a lot of time spent repairing the Nomad) Sara made sure to focus on the missions, always rushing head on into battle while making sure to defer to Cora's judgement when it came to less... deadly events. The politics on the Nexus she outright avoided in any way possible, always making sure someone else handled them. More than often the crew would give her looks, and the resident doctor prod her with questions of her well being and mental state of mind, but she quickly learned to deflect that as well.

  
_Scott, please... wake up!_

  
Not until they met the monster of all nightmares calling himself "Archon" who caught the Tempest by surprise, did reality fully hit home. Every wall, every defense, every mental barrier came crashing down. Panic, a surge of desperation and fear hit her with the force of a sledgehammer and she stumbled. Reaching for the wall was all Sara could do to not have a mental breakdown right there and then in front of her entire crew.

The rest happened in a blur, the Archon, the speeding and jumping of the ship, the mad dash through the Scourge. Sara had gripped Kallo's chair like her life depended on it as she shook, and her mind tried to cope.

  
_"Pathfinder, I detect..."_

  
"Not now SAM!" Sara yelled outright as the Tempest veered sharply, and the dark space around her was lit up as ship exploded.

She watched the fire with a sort of morbid fascination, her pent up emotions screaming for release. It was becoming increasingly hard to breathe as Sara dug her nails into the leather of the salarian's piloting seat.

"Ryder, are you okay..?" Liam hesitantly spoke while appearing in her peripheal vision, a furrow in his brow, hand halfway stretched towards her.

  
Sara nodded frantically, grit her teeth and flinched from the gesture of comfort.

As their pilot and resident salarian, Kallo Jath shouted an elated "yes", Sara wobbled to the side. A sort of dizziness overcame her senses, and the emotions turned unbearable. Realising she might just start crying right there and then, the panicked pathfinder bolted.

  
Vetra, the only one she'd call friend, shouted her name as she stumbled on her own feet twice on her mad dash the way to the bathroom. Like a drunken Krogan she slammed open the door to the bathroom. All she could hear, all she could see was the look on her father's face as he gave her that helmet. All she could smell was stomach acid as she threw open the toilet seat and emptied all her meager rations into its murkening water. Sara Ryder shook with sobs, heartwrenching noises as a bang along with a metallic schreech made the ship shake twice.

  
"Pathfinder, I detect a high level of noradrenaline and an irregular heart rhytm. Do I call Dr Lexi?"

  
Sara emptied her stomach violently again as the AI's voice registered in her chaotic mind.

  
"SAM?" She rasped and tried to stand up just as the ship  shook once more.

The pathfinder hung her head above the toilet, fighting to stop the sobbing.

  
"If there is no emergency, you are urgently needed on the bridge, pathfinder" SAM answered, still with static and Sara gripped the toilet seat.

  
This... pathfinder thing. She couldn't do it. And now... she had finally been faced with all her failures, all the people she lost.

Who was she really fighting for any more? She had lost her purpose the day her father died and her twin ended up in a coma.

  
"Pathfinder, you are..."

  
"Needed at the bridge. Yes, SAM, I heard you" She cut the AI off and sniffled one last time before she flushed the toilet.

  
_This has to be a nightmare._

  
"Get your shit together Sara, just... focus. Breathe" She spoke out loud as she stood and glared at the haunted looking woman staring back at her. With a noise of frustration, Sara removed a long lock of brown hair behind her left ear. "No more tears. God knows you've shed too many already"

  
With a last check, she slammed shut the door to her emotions, then quickly rinsed her face and mouth before hurrying back outside. Vetra immediately spotted her, as did Suvi and Dr Lexi, but she dismissed the three of them and their worried questions.

  
"What's our status?" She asked instead in what she hoped was an authorative voice.

  
Gil, the ship's resident engineer broke in on the comm link just then telling them that they had issues with the ship. The world spun slightly as she once more moved to grip a chair. She nodded to herself as her nails dug into the leather and bit her lower lip.

  
"Alright, what do we need to do?" She said out loud, and purposefully ignored Lexi trying to scan her, asking about how she was doing.

  
"We need to get ourselves to a port. Pronto" the man answered.

  
Biting so hard into her lower lip she could taste the coppery tang of blood, Sara turned to the ship's pilot. She trusted that salarian like no other to fly the Tempest at all times and keep her airborne. He knew her limitations like no other.

  
"Where are we, Kallo? Are we near any sort of landing space?"

  
The salarian started fiddling with the Tempest's controls in a rapid speed, but it was Suvi that answered.

  
"Sensors are damaged, but I think we have ended up close to the Vault's coordinates."

  
Sara swallowed another mouthful of copper and deftly avoided the frustrated noises the doctor behind her were making.

The vault... those god damn remnant infested god forsaken places. She could not understand Peebee's fascination with them. Buildings that huge, that empty, that could transform an entire planet...? Downright creepy, the stuff of nightmares. She had dreamt many times of getting lost inside those buildings, and the first time had been as scary as the last. She could almost hear her father's chiding as he told her they were explorers meant to  _explore._

 

_Scott, maybe I should have stayed in the military. I am not cut out to be a pathfinder, hells, I don't even know what to do right now, not to mention I always get lost whenever we..._

 

"Sara?" The engineer's hurried voice sounded on the comm, breaking her out of her reverie.

  
"Suvi, you _think_ we ended... nevermind. Give us all you've got, Kallo, Gil! If we need to get down, then get us down"

  
She inhaled a shaky breath as the dark planet ahead inched ever closer. Those volcanic regions did  _not_ look friendly or very inviting.

 

Sara exhaled through her nose.

  
As the salarian furiously typed on his keyboard, Suvi all of a sudden turned her head and their eyes instantly met.

  
"Ryder, we are being... contacted."

  
Once again, the world seemed to tilt. Sara drew a shaky breath and fought the sharp tugging in her stomach. The kett had managed to follow? Her heart started racing and some of the leather on the pilot's seat broke loose as she dug her nails into it.

  
Almost on instinct, she turned to give the asari commando a look of desperation, but Cora looked just as lost as she felt.

  
"But we have to land, so... open a comm, Suvi." she spoke, voice barely louder than a whisper.

 

The redhead nodded and started typing on the keyboard.

  
Relief washed through her when the voice that spoke a second later didn't appear to be Kett. Though the voice spoke nothing but gibberish, and SAM stayed silent despite her repeated attempts at asking him to translate.

 

  
_Dad... I need you. Tell me what to do, come and pathfind for me._

 

Suvi typed away as Sara waited with baited breath for any translator to work.

  
"Pathfinder, all your translators are offline" said AI spoke in her mind through their private link, and she hung her head.

  
"We're visitors from another galaxy... we come in peace" She spoke out loud, not knowing what else to say since the translators apparently didn't work.

  
The comm went silent for a moment, and for a second Sara swore she could hear her father whisper in her ear to stay calm.

  
Then the gibberish came again, and she almost jumped out of her skin when a hand landed on her shoulder. Without preamble, Sara recognised it, gripping the hand with fervor, refusing to look back at the turian.

  
"They've sent us a navpoint" The salarian suddenly spoke, and the hand fell away.

 

She exhaled, not aware she had been holding her breath.

  
"Set us down then"

  
As the ship veered a bit and they broke into the atmosphere, she was suddenly stunned as a beautiful lush world opened up in front of her eyes. She felt gobsmacked and in awe as greenery and fresh looking water appeared, seemingly stretching on forever at the horizon.

This.. was the kind of world her father had been looking for.

She held her breath, eyes suddenly watery as they closed in on the landing spot. As they descended, Sara blinked in wonder when she spotted what looked like a small city made up from.. colourful roofs and strange metallic arcs. The sun glittered beautifully on the roofs and lsuh green treetops. 

  
When she signed up for the Andromeda initiative with her father, everyone had been expecting a golden world.. but their own had been a bust. This one though... but this one was inhabited. When Sara had imagined a brand new galaxy and new worlds, she had expected them empty, perhaps inhabited by amoebas and waterlike-life... definitely not by... whatever creatures or humanoids that could have created such a beautiful round city.

 

_And definitely not expected remnant cities._

  
As the tempest exhaled its landing pads, Sara stared, slack jawed, at the sheer trainquil beauty of this new planet. She could almost hear the roaring of the waterfalls in the distance, almost taste the freshness of the water, feel the grass against tickling her bare feet.

 

_Scott always loved running on bare feet when we were young. Mom would chase him and call him feral._

 

She drew another shaky breath, slamming her walls up against the memories. With a renewed fervor, the veteran soldier turned to put on her armour and enviroment suit. The last attempt at breathing a planet's air had been ... very unpleasant. As she strapped on her gloves and butt straps, she looked up at the crew who already were bustling about, each more hurried than the last. The cockpit was quickly turning into a loud hen house.

  
"We need to get into that vault" she snapped, a statement, a steel and confidence in her voice she did not feel, meant to make everyone stop their ant-like behaviour.

  
Everyone stopped whatever they were doing.

  
She turned to Cora, and the woman simply nodded at her. As she moved to strap on her helmet, Vetra crossed her arms and blocked the path to the exit.

  
"Ryder, please, you are not going out there on your own, are you?"

  
Sara bit her lower lip and hung her head, before shaking it and looking up. Sometimes the Turian reminded her of her brother, but she refused to allow the tears to form.

 

_Scott... I miss you baby brother, I miss you so much._

  
"We have no choice. We can not risk a repeat the last botched attempt at following first contact protocol."  _I am always on my own, Vetra,_ is what she wanted to add but the words stuck at the back of her throat. "Cora?"

  
The woman walked up to her side, and nudged her forward while shaking her head.

 

"No, no Ryder. This is all on you. You are the pathfinder"

  
Sara felt a small tremor of fear trickling down her back from the statement.

 

_Dad... I can't do this._

  
"Then... I will go first. I will keep my hands in the air and make the statement loud and clear that I come in peace" Sara tried, but the voice broke at the end.

  
Liam made a noise at her side, and once mroe she flinched at his attempt to comfort.

  
"Most important thing ever. Arms. Gesturing." He said, most likely trying to cheer her up.

 

She shot him a sour look, but he simply gave her an unreadable look back.

  
"If this goes badly, or I'm eaten alive or killed or... nevermind, if anything bad happens just.. delete the vids, ok? Fly away from here.. please." She managed to get out without stuttering.

 

 _I need you guys with me,_ is what she wanted to say.

 

Vetra looked like she still had something to say, but Sara made sure to turn and walk outbefore she gave in to pleading or downright refusing to head out. 

True to her word, Sara immediately held her hands out and made sure to appear as little as possible, kept repeating that she came in peace and meant no harm.

  
As strange looking aliens appeared, Sara felt floored at the fact at how... humanoid they looked. Alien, yes, but at the same time so... not. She tried to not stare at the way their armours glinted in the sun and some sort of reflex seemed to occasionally buzz and hum with energy on their strange outfits. Of course they were armed, she had not counted on anything else, yet still as they spoke that gibberish once more, Sara felt panic edging ever closer.

  
_Start thinking, fool girl, or your actions will be the end of you!_

  
"Yes, dad" She whispered as the female humanoid in front of her appeared to be scanning her.

They were still speaking gibberish, but she made sure to stay still, allowing the scan while still trying to appear friendly and repeating that she meant no harm.

A broad shouldered male to her right said something which the female scanning her answered, and she seriously hoped the translators would start working soon, or this attempt at a first contact was going to go straight down the drain.

  
Swallowing a lump at the back of her throat, she was poked in the back, meekly taking the cue to move forward. Perspiration literally trickling down her back, Sara put on a brave facade and followed the aliens.

  
Would they take her somewhere to execute her? Or would they listen?

  
_Scott... I need your charm, I need your quick thinking, I need... you._

  
The beauty of this new place, this pristine and pure wonder faded as it was soured by the fact that Sara knew she might as well be walking straight towards her death.  
As they neared a stairwell with some female humanoids standing at the top of them, Sara wondered if they had any strange customs she should be aware of.

Bowing? Curtsying? Should she keep her hands up? Down? Speak first or stay silent until spoken to? Eye contact or not? 

 

_"I don't know what to do! SAM?"_

 

_"Follow first contact protocol, pathfinder"_

 

_"That is not what I..."_

  
Then all of a sudden the well dressed female inte he middle spoke with a loud and clear voice, effectively cutting off Sara's inner conversation.

 

"I'm Paaran Shie, governor of this city named Aya. We are the angara."

  
Sara blinked stupidly and shut her mouth.

 

_They could speak English?_

  
_"Pathfinder, it's imperative when interacting with a new species, to remain calm"_

  
She almost let loose a nervous laugh at the hinted sarcasm in SAM's voice, but instead she sent nothing but warmth towards the AI, hoping he would pick up on the emotion.

  
Atleast she was not alone in this hell.

  
_"It is also imperative to follow first contact protocol and that means you have to speak to them"_

  
_"Very funny, SAM"_

  
_"Pathfinder Ryder, I was not attempting to be..."_

  
"Uhm, hello, Parran Shié" Sara said, trying to pronounce the name correctly, "My name is Sara Ryder and I'm a pathfinder with the Initiative"

 

_Real smooth._

  
She was proud of the fact that she did not stutter despite how hard the words had been to get out. Nervousness did things to her, and speaking to people had never been her strong suit. She was better with a gun. Great at tracking things, skilled at driving the Nomad. This whole... social thing? Not so much.

  
_Dad... Scott..._

  
She noticed then that the Angarans standing around her were eyeing her with unfriendly stares, some outright hostile glares. 

  
It was ... **Nervewrecking.**

 

Sara looked down to the ground, unable to keep eye contact.

  
"Yes... you crossed darkspace. I've heard of you."

  
_"SAM? They have heard of us"_

  
But the AI stayed silent as Sara pondered the implications. These people knew of her, of them, of the humans, but she had never seen or heard anything about these humanoids called the Angara. What did this mean? If they were not friendly then the Nexus might be in danger, and so were her crew. Where were the escape routes? Could she take out enough to get SAM to altert the Tempest so they could flee?

 

God damn, but she could not die here, even if she as Sara Ryder had no real purpose, her title - pathfinder - did. 

  
Suddenly a massive male, this one pink with white dots and utterly aliens markings, appeared, effectively breaking Sara out of her chaotic mind with his sheer presence.

  
"Jaal I have this in hand" the female said with a hint of irritation. 

The male Angara, apprently called Jaal, tilted his massive head and held up his hand while speaking about someone named Efra and something about him being sent to find out what's going on.

 

She swallowed and tried to stay in the now, tried to look up and hold eye contact. Tried to not show how genuinely scared she felt, not just for her own life, but those on the Tempest and back at the Nexus...

  
Sara could not stop staring at the massive alien. The ones leading her there had worn some sort of battle armour, she guessed since they had been wearing helmets as well, but this male wore nothing of the sort. Albeit less elegant than the females, he still stood there with a sort of... regal posture. Was this a leader? A prince? 

She had no clue how their socitety worked. Should she add some sort of prefix to his name? Suffix? 

 

_Dad, god damn it dad, I NEED you!_

  
As the silence dragged on all Sara's mind could conjure up was, that this Angara was a gorgeous male, muscular in all the right places, a flat humanoid stomach and despite the way his legs went down in a strange angle, his stride seemed powerful, grounded. 

  
Confident.

 

A leader then.

  
As her mind sped up to process it all, she could not seem to find better word to describe him besides "frightfully handsome".

 

_Scott would have a fit if he knew._

  
Everything about this Jaal screamed veteran soldier to her, from the way he moved, to the way his soulful, too-blue eyes stared at her, analysed her, catagorized her.

He was like her in a sense then. The way he had cut the woman off and presented himself to her, he must be someone of high rank, of high importance.

 

_"Remember first protocol, pathfinder"_

 

Sara blinked as she could not help but admire the way his ocean deep eyes stared at her, cat-like in appearance, blue unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Deeper than the pools back at home, more blue than any ocean, or sky. Those alien eyes blinked and Sara resisted the urge to squirm.

She was _drowning._

  
The pathfinder of humanity felt, for a second time that day, that she was speechless. In awe.

  
This creature, this Angara named Jaal was...

  
**_Breathtaking._ **


End file.
